Knitting-machine.



OLAROOHE M. L. N. TUCKER.

KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY25,1911.

Patented Dec. 30, 1913 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Lamm..

LII

0. LAROCHE & M. L. N. TUCKER.

KNITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 2s.. 1911.

1,082,881, 8 Patented1m30,1913.

i s SHEETS-SHEET 2,

0. LARGCHE M. L. N. TUCKER.. KNITTING MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED 11u25,1911.

1,682,883... Patented 1190.311191;

3 SHBETSSHEET 3,

of so much of a knitting machine as is neces- To dll 'whom it mayconcern ASetjes of the Kin-gef omai Britain, ein

venti'on, such 'as will enable others skilled 'needle lknittingmachines, .and cialzlyy t' mechanism for knitting open meshticalsectional detail showing the stitch transy presser-disk out of..operation; and Figs. l

murine-MACHINE.

Patenten Dec. 3o, rei-3. Aserial No. eaaas'i.

Specct'ion of Letters Patent. i

weasel. y

Application ined may a5, 1911'.

In the drawings the invention .is illustrated as embodied in a' springneedle machine such as is used for knitting tubular fabric from whichunderwear is4 manufactured. This machine is the same in construction andmode o'` operation as Welk known machines in vcommon use, lexcept so faras the construction is modified by the embodiment 'of the presentimprovements therein. The machine is provided with the usualplurality'of feeds and stitch forn'iingand cast-oli' devices, which are not shownin the drawings. ried in the usual cylinder 2 which is continuouslyrotatedy during' the operation of the machine, through theusual drivingmechamsm.

forming devices of the usual construction, the machine is provided witha novel form of stitch tran'sferring'mechanism for transferring stitchesfrom certain needles to the next adjacent needles, and is also providedwith a novel construction of stitch forming devices for the feedimmediately preceding e' it known that we, Omvmn Lnnocnn a. MARTIN L.TUcnEl-i', a citizen of the United Statesi'residing at Lowell, in thecounty of Middlesex and vState of Massachusetts, have' invented certainnew amd useful Improvements in KnittingfMachines; and We dorherebyde'clare the following to be a fullLclea-r, and. exact descriptionof the inin the art to which it appertains to'make and use the same.

he invention reiates to circular. spring more espefabric on this type'of machine.

The' object of the invention is to provide anovel and im rovedconstruction of stitch forming and 'stitch transferring mechanismwhereby stitches 'kay bel transferred' Vfrom one needle to', anoher withcertainty, and wit a mstrain upon the fabric and needles, rand wherebyfanovel 'and vi'r'nproved fabric is ptidiijded.

o t ese ,eiids'the invention consists in the features of constructionand combinations of tei described and set forth Ain the stitchtransferring mechanism.

The stitch transferringrmechanism oomprises a needle gathering andalining wheel 3 provided with teeth spaced to receive two needlesbetween EachA tooth com- The variousjfa'tuies of the invention will bereadily under'sto'd'fijln an inspection of the accompanying drawings,and the followdetailed description of the mechanism ing slot 5' adaptedto receive two adjacent needles and bring them into alinernent one backof the other. VThe ends of the spurs are beveled at 6 to form a Haringmouth at the end of the slot whichdirects the needles into the slot. Thewheel is driven by the engagement of the needles Withfthe teeth, and asit rotates the teeth divide the mg illustrated ther'em. V

In the drawings, Figure 1 .is a plan view sary' to illustratetheapplication of the present improvements thereto; Fig. 2 is averferring devices; Figs-3, and 5 are sectional details illustrating theconstruction of the irected into the slot back of the needle a,

gathering and alining wheel and the coperating` presser disk Fi`g. 8isa' verticalV sectional view showing the devices -for throwing one ofthe presser disks out of operation; Fig. 9 is a sectional elevation'showing the one back othepther, the stitch 'on the needle a is forced`4down over the needle b by a push-,down plate 7 which engages thefabric and forcesit down along the needles, as indicated in Fig.' ,2,fsothat the stitch on the' needle a passes: down overboth theneedles'tz-and in ordcr that the needles hay vlie lose'l together `indlitl-are detail .views showing parts ofthe eto'l'o'"Inechanisi'n'l 'fThe spring needles 1 are carover the needle l1. that the properel'igagenient of the stitch with the needle may be insured.y a presseris provided for engaging the back of the rear needle b and holdfng itagainst the pullof the fabric. inthe construction shown thisy presserconsists'of a disk Sinounted to turn freely about its pivot. andarranged to engage the needle to which the stitch is to be trai'isferredat the point where the push-down plate 7 acts to force the stitch l'onthe needle a down over the top of'the needle b. After the needlespass/from engagement with the teeth of the Wheel 3, the stitch which wason needle a, is on both the needle a and the needle (b. During thecontinued rotation of the needle cylinder this stitch is cast off of theneedle a and thus its transfer from the needle a to the needle iscompleted. The means for castingolf the stitch consists of a presserdisk 9 provided with teeth 'l0 arranged to engage and close the beardsof thc-needles a, and a collperating landing wheel ll which slides thestitch up over the beard and casts` it oil'.

The needle e from which the stitch is transferred is in advance of theneedle l) to which the stitch is to be transferred, and the stitchleading from the needle a tends to occupy a position which is inclinedfor- Ward away from tho needle l). In order to draw the fabric back andbring the stitch on the needle (L into proper Vposition above the needlea rctarding device in the form of a fixed plate l2 is arranged to bearupon the inside of the fabric to the rear of the point of translbr.rlhis retarder puts a drag upon the fabric, and draws it back at thepoint of transfer sufficiently to insure -the proper engagement of 'theneedle with the stitch carried by the needle a when the stitch is forceddown over the needles. lt is also preferred to provide a' tension wheel13 arranged to engage the outer side of the. fabric above the point oftransfer, which will act to put an increased tension on the fabric andthus insure the drawing taut of the loops at the pointof transfer.

In order that the loo-p or stitch may be transferred from one needle tothe other Without putting undue strain upon the yarn, it is desirablethat the loop which is transferred be a comparatively long loop. Toprovide a loop of this character, and also to further minimize thestrain upon the loop, the stitch forming mechanism for thefeedimmediately preceding tl'ie' stitch. transferringl mechanism is soconstructed that it does not forma loop upon the needle from Which thestitch-is to be transferred, and does not cast olf from this needle theloop 'or stitch from the preceding feed. The resuit is that the needlesfrom which the stitches are to be transferred carryY loops in the courseof stitches preceding he course Lesesaal of stitches carried by theneedles to which the stitchts are .to be transferred. In theconstruction shown, the stitch forming mechanism for the feed nextpreceding the stitch transferring mechanism comprises a stitch Wheel lllprovided between every third and fourth blade with a beard engagingsurface l5 which engage andclose the beards of the needles a from whichthe stitch is to be transferred. The yarn acted upon by the stitch wheelis therefore carried up by the wheel over the beards of these needles.inf stead of beingfcarried up under the beards.

No yarn is therefore a by the stitch Wheel. The yarn delivered by thestitch Wheel to the other needles is measured and distributed betweenthe neediesA by a dividing Wheel 16 of usual construction. The stitchWheel and dividing Wheel are so constructed that the loops formed aresomewhat longer than the loops formed by the stitch Wheels for the otherfeeds. The presser disk 17 which closes the beards of theneedlcs andcooperates With the landing Wheel 18 in casting 0H the loops carried bythe needles is provided With a series of recesses 19I adapted toregister with the needles a so that the beards of these needles are notclosed and the loops on the needles are not cast olf. Thus the stitchforming devices immediately preceding the stitehtransferring mechanismare v constructed to skip the needles from Which the stitches are to betransferred so that new :loops are `not formed on these needles, and theneedles retain the loops formed by the stitch forming devices of thenext preceding feed. These loops are transferred to the needles b by thestitch transferring mechanism, so that each needle b after the needleshave passed the stitch transferring mechanism carries a stitch thestitch forming mechanism of the 4vfeed next preceding the stitch anism,and a stitch of the course formed by the stitch forming devices of thenext preceding fced, as indicated in Figff;

The stitch Wheel 14 and theprc'sser disk 'i7 are rotated by theirengagement with the needles, and they must rotate in pro er timedrelation with each other in order t iat the loops on the needles 'whichare skipped by the stitch wheel may not be cast off.4 If they should getout stitches on these needles would be cast olf, thus droppinev holes inthe. fa ric. The presence.of bunches or inequalities in the size of yarnmay someof timed relation, thek delivered to the needles of the courseformed by transferring mechthe stitches and forming times cause thestitch Wheel 14 to jump away timed relation machine may be automaticallystopped-in such cases,

linger 20. This finger 1s `arranged to ride on the fabric` close to theneedles, and vwill drop through any holes lformed by dropped stitches.The nager is pivoted in a sleeve '21 secured to the end of an arm 22which projects radially from a rock shaft -The nger is held in normalposition\in the sleeve by a spring pressed latch in 24. yThe rock shaftis forced in a direct on to press the linger 20 against the fabric by aspring 25 secured to an arm 2li-projecting from th'e shaft. The rockshaft. also carries a depend-` ing arm 27 arranged to. engage andoperate the latch 28 of the stop mechanism. The latch 28 is provided atits forward end with a hook 29 which engages the vertical arm of a bellcrank lever 30. The other arm of the'bell crank lever is pivotallyconnected to the rear end of a leverl, the front end of which carries alug 32 arranged to engage and hold down a spring pressed pin 33. Thelower end of the pin 33 is arranged to engage o-ne side of the lclutchshifting lever 84 and hold the driving clutch in enn gagement againstthe tension of the spring 35. Av spring 36 engages the latch 28 andholds it normally in position to engage the bell crank leverv d0. If ahole is formed in the fabric by the dropping of stitches or otherwise,the linger 20 enters the hole and is moved toward the left in Fig. l1 bythe forward movement of the fabric. This swings the finger about itspivot, and allows the sha-ft 23 to rock in a direction to disengage thelatch' 28 from the bell crank lever 3 The spring pin 33 immediatelyrises and releases the clutch shifting lever so thatthe drivingmechanismV is thrown out of operation.

When vthe 'driving mechanism is thrown out of operation, the momentumofthe parts may cause the needle cylinder to travel forward `until theimperfect fabric passes the presser disk 9. 1f this should occur, thepresser disk and landing wheel ll will act to cast off additional loops,and since the stitch forming devices precedingthe stitch transferringmechanism were out of time, this will cause the dropping of additionalstitches. The dropping of the v additional stitches is liable to soweaken the fabric that it will tear away from the needles, with aresulting increase in the waste of fabric. To avoid this, means isprovided for throwing the presser'disk 9 out of action when-thecontroller finger 2O detects an imperfection in the fabric. As shown,this means combrises a lever 37, one end of which underlies the disk 9,and thc other end of which is supported upon the end of a slide 38. AAspring 39 is connected with the lever 37, and tends .to swing it in a'direction to lift the a stopjmechanisni is' 'provided which iscontrolled loy a fai-bric engagingvl that the spring 39 pull of thefabric,

'is provided with a notch 40, and the slide 1s forced in a direction vtobring the. notch -40 under the end of the lever 37 by a spring 4l. Theslide is held in position against the tension of the spring 4 1 byengagement with the bell crank lever 30, as indicated in Figs. l and 9.When the bell crank lever 30 is released, as bythe rocking of thecontroller shaft 23, the spring 41 moves the slide 38 toward the rightin Fig. 10, bringing the notch 40 under the end of the lever 37,'so acts-to rock the lever and lift the presser disk 9 out of active position. f

While it is preferred to employ the specific construction andarrangement of parts shown and described, this construction andvarrangement is not essential except so', far as specified in theclaims, and may be varied and modified ywithout departing from theinvention.

Having explained the nature and obiect of the invention, andspecifically described one form of mechanism in which it may beembodied, what we claim is i l'. A knitting `machine, having, incombination, -a needle cylinder provided with l needles, a wheel outsidethe needles provided with slotted teeth arranged to pass between theneedles and to direct two ad- 'jacentneedles into the slot one back ofthe other, 'means for forcing the stitch on the front needle down overboth needles, and a presser for holding the needles against thesubstantially as described.

2. A knitting machine, having, in combination, a needle cylinderprovlded with needles, a wheel outside the needles pro# vided withslotted teeth arranged to pass between the needles and 'to direct twoadjacent needles into theslot one back of the forcing the stitch on theother, means for front needle down over both needles, and a presserengaging the back of the rear needle, substantially as described. Y

3. A knitting machine, having, in combination, a needle cylinderprovided with needles, a wheel outside vthe needles4 pro' vided withslotted teeth arranged to pass between the 'needles and to direct twoadjacent needles into the-slot one back of the other, Ameans for forcingthe stitch on the front needle down over both needles, and a rotarypresser disk engaging the rear needle to press the needles together inthe slot, sub- .stantially as described.

4. `A knitting machine, bination, a needle cylinder provided withneedles, a wheel outside the needles provided with slotted teetharranged to passbetween the needles and to direct two adjacent needlesinto the slot one back of the other, means for forcing the stitch on thefront needle down over both needles, and a having, in conii I retarderengaging the fabric to the rear of binati0n, -the point of transfer,substantially as described.

5. A knitting machine` having, in 00mbinatien, a needle cylinderprovided with.

needles, a Wheel outside tbe needles provided with slottedteetlisarranged to pass between the needles and t0 direct t-Wo adjacentneedles into the slet one back of the other, means for forcing thestitch on the. front needle down over both needles, a presser engaginglthe becker the rear; needle, end i` retarder engaging the fabric-to therear of the point of transfer, substantially as de- L scribed.

6. A knitting,` machine, having, in comneedles,

a needle Cylinder provided with a Wheel ontside the needles providedwith between the needles andy t0 direct two adjacent needles into theslot one back of the other, means for forcing ithe'stiteh ou the frontneedle down over both needles, a presser engaging the back of the rearneedle, and a tension wheel engaging the outside of the fabric fLbQvethe point of. transfer, substantially as described. y

@LIVIER LAROCHE.

., MARTIN L. N. TUCKER.

Witnesses: ANDREW G. SWAP?,

BENJAMIN W. CLnMnN'rs.

slotted teeth arranged to pass

